Worked example · Midland–Odessa / Permian Basin
Two years at Odessa College, then two years at The University of Texas Permian Basin
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, books, lab fees, differential tuition, distance-education fees, parking, and financial aid are omitted because mixing them in without a family's FAFSA is how directories invent savings. This is a published-price map, not a named state program.
Siblings: Austin ACC → Texas State / UT Austin · Houston HCC → Texas State · Dallas College → UNT Denton · Alamo Colleges → UTSA · TCC → UNT Denton · EPCC → UTEP · SPC → Texas Tech · Del Mar → TAMU-CC · TJC → UT Tyler · AC → WTAMU · STC → UTRGV · TSC → UTRGV · LC → TAMIU · MCC → TAMUCT · LIT → LU · VC → TAMUV · TC → TAMUT · Vernon → MSU · Cisco → ASU · Blinn → TAMU · GC → UHCL · CTC → TAMUCT · AC → SFA.
The question
A Midland–Odessa / Permian Basin resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: eight semesters at The University of Texas Permian Basin Resident Sample Total Charges 15 SCH line. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at Odessa College at the published Ector County In-District Resident rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at UTPB. Does Path B show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair Odessa College with UTPB because they sit in the same city and official OC2UTPB / transfer-partnership pages exist as context only — not a PathMax admission promise and not invented articulation dollars. OC publishes In-District Resident (Ector County), Out-of-District Resident (Texas resident outside Ector County), and Out-of-State Non-Resident. The default OC cell is the Effective Fall 2026 / 2026-27 Academic Year 15-SCH In-District Resident Total. Special Program Tuition, lab, insurance, and course fees are omitted from that cell. Out-of-District and Out-of-State are warning rows. Midland College In-District 15 SCH is a Midland-city sibling note only — it does not replace Odessa College as the default community-college cell. Texas Direct is credit application plus a THECB associate degree under Texas Education Code §61.834. It does not reserve a UTPB seat. Admission is not guaranteed. Do not merge that language with TEC §51.8035.
Published rates used
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Odessa College, Ector County In-District Resident, Effective Fall 2026 / 2026-27 Academic Year, 15 SCH Total | $1,680 per semester | Default cell. Published Tuition and Fees SCH Total. The page note says amounts include $30/hour Student Service Fee and $3/hr Activity Fee — do not add those again. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic, not an OC printed 60-hour total: $1,680 × 4 = $6,720.00. Special Program Tuition, lab, insurance, and course fees are omitted. |
| Odessa College, Out-of-District Resident, Effective Fall 2026, 15 SCH Total | $2,520 per semester | Warning only. Not the default cell. Same published table. Texas residents outside Ector County pay this column. |
| Odessa College, Out-of-State Non-Resident, Effective Fall 2026, 15 SCH Total | $3,135 per semester | Warning only. Not the default cell. Same published table. |
| The University of Texas Permian Basin, Resident undergraduate Sample of Total Tuition and Fee Charges, 2026–2027 catalog, 15 SCH Total Charges | $4,620.12 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. Published sample: Resident Tuition $3,288.30 + Student Services $250.00 + Library Service $135.00 + Athletic $360.00 + Student Multi-Purpose Center $150.00 + Advising $35.00 + Technology $382.50 + Medical Service $19.32 = $4,620.12. Two years = $4,620.12 × 4 = $18,480.48; four years = $4,620.12 × 8 = $36,960.96. Differential tuition, distance- education / online course fees, parking, and lab fees are omitted from this cell. |
| UTPB Non-Texas Resident / International tuition $624.22/SCH, constructed 15 SCH total with the same required-fee stack as the Resident sample | ~$10,695.12 per semester | Warning construction only. The fetched Sample Total Charges table prints Resident columns. Tuition alone at 15 SCH is $9,363.30; plus the same required-fee stack as the Resident sample (~$1,331.82) is about $10,695.12. Not a published Non-Resident Sample Total row. |
| Midland College, In-District Lower Level, 2026-27 Academic Year, 15 SCH (sibling / Midland-city note) | $1,590 per semester | Midland-city sibling only. Do not replace Odessa College as the default community-college cell. COA 2026-27 Lower Level annual Tuition & Fees $3,180 at 15+15 → $1,590 per semester. Out-of-District $2,460 and Out-of-State $3,090 are sibling warnings on the same COA / indexed catalog schedule. Live catalog HTML was blocked by AWS WAF on fetch day; COA corroborates the indexed 15-SCH row. |
| UTPB live Explanation of Fees, 2026–2027, Medical Services Fee and Advising Fee vs catalog sample | $4,629.55 per semester | Footnote only. Live Medical $21.25 and Advising $42.50 (catalog sample uses $19.32 / $35.00). Component sum at 15 SCH is $4,629.55. Do not swap this into the default cell until the catalog Sample Total Charges is revised. |
| UTPB Guaranteed Tuition Rate Plan | Opt-in lock — no default 15 SCH total in this pack | Footnote / alternate only. Opt-in multi-year lock for eligible students. Not the default cell. The default sticker stays the catalog Sample Total Charges 15 SCH $4,620.12. |
Sources retrieved September 25, 2026: Odessa College; The University of Texas Permian Basin; The University of Texas Permian Basin; Midland College. All sources
Odessa College → The University of Texas Permian Basin versus four years at UTPB
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| OC In-District Resident 60-hour path ($1,680 × 4) + 2 UTPB Resident years ($4,620.12 × 4) | $6,720.00 + $18,480.48 = $25,200.48 |
| 4 UTPB Resident years at the same 2026–2027 catalog Sample Total Charges 15 SCH line ($4,620.12 × 8) | $36,960.96 |
| Difference in these published lines | $11,760.48 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved September 25, 2026: Odessa College; The University of Texas Permian Basin. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The OC Ector County In-District Resident $1,680 semester actually applies. OC publishes In-District (Ector County) versus Out-of-District versus Out-of-State. We do not invent an Ector County rate beyond that In-District column. Out-of-District Resident 15 SCH is $2,520. Out-of-State Non-Resident 15 SCH is $3,135. Those cells change the comparison. Contact OC Admissions / Records to confirm residency classification.
- Midland College In-District 15 SCH $1,590 (Out-of-District $2,460 / Out-of-State $3,090) is a Midland-city sibling note only. It does not replace Odessa College as the default community-college cell for this Odessa / UTPB page.
- UTPB admits you as a transfer student. Texas Direct is credit application and, when Core plus Field of Study are complete, a THECB associate degree (TEC §61.834). It does not reserve a UTPB seat. Admission is not guaranteed — even where UTPB publishes OC2UTPB transfer partnerships and OC publishes UTPB pathways. Those pages are context and link-out only. Do not merge that credit / associate language with TEC §51.8035.
- The hours apply to the major. Use a completed Field of Study when THECB says it is complete. Computer Science, Biology, English, Architecture, and Engineering are not completed Texas Direct blocks on the THECB table we last fetched — do not treat them as one. See Texas Direct.
- You stay on the UTPB Resident Sample Total Charges 2026–2027 $4,620.12 cell. Lab fees, differential tuition ($30/SCH Business / Nursing / Engineering), distance-education / online course fees, housing, meals, parking, and books are not in that total. The live Explanation of Fees Medical $21.25 / Advising $42.50 component sum $4,629.55 is a footnote only — do not swap it into the default cell until the catalog Sample Total is revised. The Guaranteed Tuition Rate Plan is an opt-in lock and is not the default cell.
- You do not add a fifth year. Extra semesters at university rates erase the gap.
What we omitted on purpose
This table is sticker tuition and mandatory fees only. Housing, food, books, parking, lab fees, special program / course fees, differential tuition, distance-education / online course fees, and cost-of-attendance living averages are omitted. College Scorecard average annual cost is net price after grants for first-time aid recipients and does not belong in this table. Aid waivers and Guaranteed Tuition Rate Plan marketing are omitted from the sticker math. We do not invent articulation-agreement dollars from OC2UTPB partner pages. Midland College tables are sibling / audit, not default cells. The live Explanation of Fees Medical / Advising update is footnote only until the catalog Sample Total Charges is revised.
Sources retrieved September 25, 2026: Odessa College; The University of Texas Permian Basin; The University of Texas Permian Basin; The University of Texas Permian Basin; Odessa College; Midland College; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
Directory pages stay free. Published by Plain Steps. Optional $19 Texas Direct 2+2 worksheet.